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It is June 19, 2000. All roads to Ranchi are
streaming with thousands of people. The occasion is the celebration of the Birsa
Munda centenary year. Organised by the Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Parishad
(JMKSP) and supported by a host of organisations like, the Jharkhand Mukti Manch,
Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Samiti, Jharkhand Mukti Abhiyan, Hal Jharkhand Abhiyan,
CPI(ML) Unity Initiative, AIPRF, etc.,— thousands of Jharkhandis gathered at
Ranchi. They came from Daltonganj, Gadra, Dhanbad, Palamau, Chathra, Ranchi,
Bokaro, Kodarmar and many other districts of Jharkhand. There were large
contingents of women. Throughout the month of June village level meetings were
organised around the Birsa centenary which culminated in village-level rallies
throughout Jharkhand on June 17.
Earlier, at a press conference, leaders of the
planned Sankalp Sabha exposed the fake Jharkhandis and put forward a set of
demands. They said that all the so-called leaders of Jharkhand from Sibu Souren
to Babulal Marandi are only agents whose only plan is to sell the mineral-rich
region, in order to loot the Jharkhandi people. The likes of Sibu Soren and
Suraj Mandal only play politics with people’s sentiments. And the BJP agent,
Babulal Marandi is the biggest enemy of Jharkhandi self-respect. They said that
the BJP did not even present the Bill in parliament; while Sibu Soren, in his
greed to become Chief Minister, even went so far as to join hands with the BJP.
While the earlier Jharkhand comprised 26 districts, the proposed Vananchal
comprises merely 18 districts of Bihar, yet all political parties have agreed to
this BJP formula.
The JMKSP leaders said that the aim of the Parishad
was, on the one hand, to end the loot by the imperialists, comprador bourgeoisie
and bureaucrats in Jharkhand, and, on the other, to put an end to the loot by
the Mahajan-Mafia combine. They opposed the dirty political games going on in
the name of Jharkhand and called on the people of Jharkhand to preserve their
self-respect and cultural heritage. A handbill of the JMKSP distributed at the
press conference called on the people to rally in thousands to commemorate the
Birsa Munda centenary by strengthening the struggle for a Democratic Jharkhand
within a New Democratic India. It put forward the following demands : (i) To
kick out all TNCs and companies of the comprador bourgeoisie from Jharkhand (ii)
To establish Jharkhand people’s control over all forest land and produce. (iii)
To rise against the loot by the mafia, mahajan, bureaucrat combine and (iv) To
stop police repression on the struggling Jharkhandi people. The Parishad
appealed to the people to follow the path of Birsa’s Ulgulan movement and unite
all democratic forces.
While the rallyists had taken police permission and
the Ranchi Regional Development Authority (RDDA) had even organised a water
tanker for the processionists, the government came down with a heavy hand. In a
pre-planned operation Ranchi was converted into a virtual police camp, with
heavily armed police posted all over the city. A defacto section 144 was in
operation with the police aggressively dispersing any small gathering of people.
All approach roads into Ranchi town were sealed, and buses, trucks, tractors of
the processionists were being dispersed at the entry points itself.
Yet thousands gathered at the Ranchi railway
station, where the procession was to begin and end at a public meeting at the
Jaipal Singh stadium. But just as the processionists were about to take their
tiffin, without any provocation whatsoever, the police began a sudden and brutal
lathi charge. Not only men, even women with small children were ruthlessly
beaten. Many were injured. Yet about 2,000 gathered at the stadium, where the
police again resorted to a lathi charge. The people of Ranchi were astounded at
the extent of police brutality on a procession for which permission had been
granted.
Rasta Roko At Albert Ekka Chowk by the
JKMSP and Other organisations
Activists of JKMSP demonstrationg against the
police lathi charge at Ranchi
At the venue, the organisers converted the meeting
into a protest march against the police brutality. A procession wound its way
through the main streets of Ranchi and ended with a Rasta Roko (road blockade)
at the main Albert Ekka Chowk. The main road was blocked for nearly two hours
while leaders gave speeches, which were interspersed with revolutionary songs
and a street play. The speakers included Nirmalla Ekka of the JMKSP, Anjani
Pande of the CPI(ML) Unity Initiative, Shailesh Kumar of the Bharat Nawjawan
Sabha, C.D. Singh of the Left Democratic Committee, Amitab Jha of the Democratic
Students Union, Arjun Prasad of the AIPRF, and many others.
They declared that the proposed state of Vananchal
will be of no use to the oppressed masses; and declared their intention to
continue the struggle even if the Vananchal state was formed.
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